Rudy Boykins was 50 when he was found fatally shot behind a warehouse at 1514 North 13th Street in the Old North St. Louis neighborhood in the late hours of November 30, 2022. Police say his body had multiple gunshot wounds and that the location was within an otherwise unoccupied homeless encampment. ShotSpotter alerted officers to the area, and Boykins was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators released surveillance footage and received community tips identifying a person of interest as Joseph Baylark III. Police located and interviewed Baylark; he admitted to being the person in the video and clothing matching the footage was recovered at his residence. He initially denied involvement but later confessed. Baylark, 26 at the time of arrest, faced first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges.

A plea development occurred before trial: on March 21, 2025, Baylark pleaded guilty to an amended charge of voluntary manslaughter, with the armed criminal action count dismissed, and received a seven-year prison sentence. Does anyone have information about Boykins, his movements that night, or the encampment near North 13th Street?